97% of students taking Catalan university entrance exams pass

Almost all students in Catalonia who took the university entrance exams passed this year.

Out of a total of 33,960 students who took the five subjects of the compulsory general phase, which allows access to university if passed, 97% passed.

This is the fourth consecutive year with such a high pass rate.

In this phase, the highest possible score is 10, and this year's average score is 6.747, slightly lower than last year's average of 6.787.

A total of 42,550 students registered for the exams last month, marking the third consecutive year of record registrations for the tests.

Two students score 9.9 

The highest score in this year's university entrance exam was 9.9, achieved by two students.

Pau Palomar is one of them. He is a student from Castellnou de Bages, in inland Catalonia, who attends the Auro high school in Santpedor.

He found out about his score when he returned from a class trip to Ibiza on Wednesday. He said he was "not expecting it" and is experiencing "many new emotions".

Pau says his study method has been "consistent", but without fixed schedules.

His greatest passions are mathematics and physics. "I find it very fascinating to try to answer questions that have no answer, like understanding our world," he says. 

Pau plans to continue studying these subjects at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

"I want to be a researcher and dedicate my life to research," he says.

Eric Mateu from Cerdanyola del Vallès, near Barcelona, is the other student with the highest score. He has also chosen the same path as Pau, and the two already know each other from scientific competitions.

These scores were the highest not only in the Barcelona region, but also in Catalonia. In other regions, the highest score was 9.8. In the Barcelona area, another 10 students achieved a score of 9.8.

This year, 914 students (compared to 1,153 in 2023) will receive recognition from the government for achieving a score of 9 or higher in the general phase of the exams.